


For the Night is Dark and Full of Terrors

by Gretchen_Zeller_Barnes



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: AOS!McCoy, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Male Character, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Kind of - I mean it is still Dax, McDax, Mirror Universe OFC, Mirror!Dax, Nightmares, Original Female Character - Freeform, PTSD, Sharing a Bed, These two need ALL the hugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-11-23 08:21:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18149438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gretchen_Zeller_Barnes/pseuds/Gretchen_Zeller_Barnes
Summary: After an away mission gone wrong, Dax and McCoy are the only survivors. Only able to find comfort with Dax curled around him each night, McCoy doesn’t realise Dax is also having nightmares until he wakes early one night…





	For the Night is Dark and Full of Terrors

McCoy is woken by the sound of Talzia’s voice, pulled from a dream he can’t quite remember, rather than the sound of his own screams. Or worse.

The screams of the people who didn’t make it back.

Groggily, he scrubs his palm over his face before realising Talzia isn’t talking _to_ him. She’s _whimpering_.

McCoy glances over his shoulder; her eyes are closed and her face taught as her body jerks around his.

 _Shit_ , he curses himself, as he belatedly realises, she’s having a nightmare.

He tries turning, but Talzia’s arms are wrapped tightly around his torso like tritanium bands. He gently eases himself from her grip, his hand falling softly to her shoulder.

In a blur of movement, he finds himself flat on his back with Talzia awake and terrifying; towering over him, legs either side of his chest as her hand closes around his throat, the glint of a knife in the other.

His initial response is to panic as he desperately claws at the fingers squeezing the life from him. Instead, he goes loose, sinking back into the mattress, his arms relaxed at his sides. He calls her name softly, never breaking eye contact as he waits for her to come to herself.

McCoy sees the moment she does; the terrifying expression on her face morphing into one of abject horror. The blade falls from her hand.

She scrambles off McCoy and sits on the end of the bed, back turned to him and her face buried in her hands. McCoy follows, sitting next to her. She doesn’t make a sound, but her whole body is trembling.

He lays his hand on her back, running his palm up and down her spine in what he hopes is a soothing manner. She flinches at first, letting out a muffled sob, and he considers that maybe touching her right now is not what she needs, but then she relaxes, so he perseveres.

“Hey, it’s alright, darlin’. It’s alright…” he whispers.

Talzia always seems to know how to comfort him after a nightmare, he can’t help but feel useless because he can’t seem to offer her the same. Her body shakes with the force of her sobs, and she holds herself inwards, as if trying to make herself as small as possible.

 _Fuck it_.

He pulls her into his lap, wrapping his free arm tightly around her. Her arms wind around his bare torso and she buries her face in his neck.

“That’s it, darlin’. Just let it out,” he croons, pressing his cheek into her hair, his hand still moving slowly up and down her back as she cries and cries.

Her nails dig into his back, her arms and legs are like a vice around him. He says nothing about any discomfort he feels, rocking her gently as her tears run down his chest. _This_ , he realises, _is what she needs_ ; simply for him to be there while she breaks down, because after Harlak, there is no one else she would trust enough to let herself fall apart with.

So he holds her, his hand on her back never stopping, whispering in her ear the whole time, until eventually, she’s limp in his arms.

***

Talzia doesn’t know how long she’s been sitting in McCoy’s lap, his arms wrapped around her, but she never wants to move. He’s so warm, and solid, and she’s not sure she can face him after almost stabbing and strangling him. Exhausted, her arms hang limply around McCoy’s side, the images of her nightmare so fresh she’s not convinced she’ll sleep again.

She can still hear his voice, though she can’t make out the words, she can hear the affection and worry there. His hand runs through her hair, reminding her of Leela’s mother, who would play with her daughter’s thick and curly hair. She can’t remember the last time someone played with _her_ hair.

Talzia burrows further into McCoy’s chest. If at all possible, she’d like to avoid the inevitable conversation, at least until she feels steadier.

Her heart sinks as McCoy pulls back slightly, his head ducking to meet her eyes. Apparently, he isn’t going to let her off lightly. His hands are on either side of her face, cupping her cheeks almost reverently as he tips her chin upwards.

His hazel green eyes are soft, filled only with concern and understanding. She doesn’t have to hold back or pretend with him, because he knows what she’s going through. Her breath stutters at the realisation, the back of her throat burning, almost as if she’s going to tear up again.

He doesn’t ask if she’s okay, partly because he knows she isn’t, and party because he can’t abide asking stupid questions.

Instead, he kisses her.

As first kisses go, it’s chaste and oh so sweet. His lips are dry, soft, gentler than she expected, barely brushing hers, but the shock of it has her lips tingling beneath his, desperate for more.

Talzia is no fool; she knew this would happen someday, though she didn’t imagine it quite like this. She and McCoy had been dancing around each other since before the crash, neither of them quite ready to take that first step. But now that it’s actually happening…

McCoy pulls away and she chases his mouth, finding large hands keeping her in place. She opens her eyes (she can’t remember closing them, or covering McCoy’s hands on her face with her own), and finds him looking at her intently.

“What do you need from me, darlin’?” he asks, his voice husky and low, the look on his face telling her he’d hand her the Enterprise itself if she so much as demanded it.

“Just this… _just you_ …”

He kisses her again, deeper, though still close mouthed, before peppering her damp cheeks with kisses. His mouth against her skin is like a catharsis somehow, each kiss drawing out the poison festering inside her since Harlak.

McCoy kisses his way up her nose, before planting his lips tenderly on her forehead. She’s so tired, but she doesn’t want to stop kissing this man, this beautiful, cantankerous, kind-hearted man she’s pretty sure she’s fallen in love with.

The doctor in him wins out though. He drops a hand from her face, turning to reach for the glass of water she left for him earlier on her bedside dresser, and offering it to her.

She drains half the glass, handing it back to McCoy, who takes a large gulp and deposits the glass back on her dresser.

Talzia lays back on the bed, McCoy following her, settling into the cooling sheets on his side. Normally he faces away from her, and she wraps herself around him, burying her face in his neck. This time, he faces her.

He doesn’t say anything more, but then, he doesn’t have to.

She edges closer and snuggles into him, her head tucked under his chin as his arms wrap around her, gathering her against his chest and planting one last kiss on the top of her head.

Talzia closes her eyes and lets the sound of McCoy’s breath, and the movement of his chest beneath her head, lull her to sleep.

This time when she dreams, she won’t remember when she wakes the following morning, only that she felt... _content_.

 


End file.
